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Areas of expertise

Professional information

  • 2025: admitted to the Faculty of Advocates
  • 2024 – 2025: devilling to Lesley Irvine, Elisabeth Roxburgh, Barney Ross and Euan Dow
  • 2021 – 2024: Law Clerk to the Lord President, Lord Carloway
  • 2017 – 2021: Solicitor in private practice, specialising in all aspects of civil litigation, including public and commercial law (Anderson Strathern LLP)
  • 2016 – 2017: Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Edinburgh
  • 2012 – 2016: LLB (Hons) in Scots Law at the University of Dundee
Professional experience

Ysabeau is experienced in civil litigation across a range of areas of Scots law.As a solicitor in private practice, Ysabeau gained particular experience of public and commercial law. She advised a number of public authorities on questions of public law, including their statutory obligations, in the context of judicial reviews as well as actions brought against them for damages, and fatal accident inquiries. She also advised a variety of commercial and private clients in relation to actions for breach of contract, professional negligence, consumer rights, intellectual property, property damage and construction disputes. She appeared in the sheriff court, the Sheriff Appeal Court and in various tribunals, and acted as instructing solicitor in the Court of Session and in the Supreme Court.Prior to calling to the Bar, Ysabeau was Law Clerk to the Lord President, Lord Carloway. In that role, she carried out research for the Lord President and other members of the First Division generally, and assisted them in their preparations for oral hearings and in the preparation of their written judgments.Ysabeau tutors agency, partnership and company law at the University of Edinburgh.

Notable cases

Prior to calling to the Bar, Ysabeau worked on a number of notable cases, including the following:

Public law

  • In re Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Northern Ireland) Bill [2023] AC 505 (as Law Clerk to the Lord President – whether provisions within a Bill referred to the Supreme Court by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly)
  • Grier v Lord Advocate 2023 SC 116 (as Law Clerk to the Lord President – action for damages for malicious prosecution brought against the Chief Constable and the Lord Advocate which concerned the meaning of malice)
  • ABC v Principal Reporter 2020 SC (UKSC) 47 (as instructing solicitor for the Principal Reporter – challenges to the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament in enacting the certain provisions of the Childrens’ Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011)
  • Galbraith Trawlers Ltd v The Advocate General for Scotland [2021] SAC (Civ) 15 (as instructing solicitor for the Advocate General – whether Home Office acted ultra vires in detaining the pursuer’s vessels under section 25D of the Immigration Act 1971

Commercial and company law

  • Forthwell Ltd v Pontegadea Ltd 2024 SLT 1245 (as Law Clerk to the Lord President – considered the law on transferred loss/legal black holes)
  • Tilbury Douglas Construction Ltd v Ove Arup and Partners Scotland Ltd 2024 SC 383 (as Law Clerk to the Lord President – concerned the interpretation and application of sections 6(4) and 11(3) of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973)
  • DMWSHNZ Ltd (In Liquidation) v Bank of Scotland Plc 2024 SLT 843 (as Law Clerk to the Lord President – concerned the application of the law relating to shadow directorship to a company with only corporate directors)
  • Integri Consultants v Midlothian Council [2021] CSOH 105 (as instructing solicitor for Midlothian Council – whether the Council had approbated the contract between the parties by challenging the sheriff court’s jurisdiction to hear a claim based on the contract in a previous action)

Planning, environmental and energy

  • Wildcat Haven Community Interest Co v Scottish Ministers 2024 SLT 1296 (as Law Clerk to the Lord President – whether in deciding to grant consent for a windfarm development under the Electicity Act 1989, the Scottish Ministers had failed to apply properly the mitigation hierarchy contained in policy 3(b) of National Planning Framework 4)
  • Open Seas Trust v Scottish Ministers 2024 SC 338 (as Law Clerk to the Lord President – whether in issuing a notice varying the conditions applicable to certain Scottish sea, the Scottish Ministers had failed to act in accordance with their duty under section 15(1) of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010)

Professional negligence

  • Centenary 6 v TLT LLP 2024 SLT 681 (as Law Clerk to the Lord President – concerned a claim for solicitors’ negligence and the proper assessment of the client’s consequential loss of a chance)